British Royalty and Aristocracy: Their skin maladies Part II. Queen Mary II's death from hemorrhagic smallpox

Gerald A Soff; Nick J Levell; Lawrence Charles Parish; Leonard J Hoenig

doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2023.09.013

British Royalty and Aristocracy: Their skin maladies Part II. Queen Mary II's death from hemorrhagic smallpox

Clin Dermatol. 2023 Nov-Dec;41(6):738-742. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2023.09.013. Epub 2023 Sep 23.

Authors

Gerald A Soff¹, Nick J Levell², Lawrence Charles Parish³, Leonard J Hoenig⁴

Affiliations

¹ Classical Hematology Service, Division of Hematology, University of Miami Health Service System/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami, Florida, USA.
² Norfolk and Norwich Univeristy Hospital, Norwich, UK.
³ Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Center for International Dermatology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁴ Private practice, Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 37742779
DOI: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2023.09.013

Abstract

In 1694, Queen Mary II (1662-1694) died at age 32 of hemorrhagic smallpox, a rare and fatal form of the viral infection. This contribution presents the clinical features of Queen Mary II's smallpox infection. It also reviews, from a modern-day perspective, the disseminated intravascular coagulopathy involved in the pathophysiology of hemorrhagic smallpox, which is characterized by thrombocytopenia, coagulation factor deficiency, and hypofibrinogenemia.

MeSH terms

Adult
Hemorrhage
Humans
Smallpox*